


Baseball

by sartiebodyshots



Series: Happily Ever Before [3]
Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 07:16:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3560930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben doesn’t want to be an embarrassment at baseball, so he gets help from his older brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baseball

            Mom and Dad had signed him up for baseball, and Ben doesn’t really mind playing.  It’s funnish when he can sit in the outfield and pick grass and usually they take him and Hal out for ice cream afterwards.

            Except hitting.  He hates hitting the baseball.  Mostly because he never actually does it. 

            Swing one, and miss.

            Swing two, and miss.

            And then that impossibly long pause because he just cannot miss again.  If he misses again then he’s out and that’s three outs for his team, which means he lost the whole inning for his team.

            “You’ve gotta swing, kid,” the referee says, eventually.  “Or else I’m gonna have to call you out anyway.”

            Ben nods hesitantly and continues to not swing.

            “Hey, Ben,” Dad’s voice is behind him and Ben turns to look.  Mom and Hal are both behind him, nodding encouragingly.  “You’ve got to swing, okay?  It’s okay to miss.  But you’ve got to try.” 

            “Okay, Dad,” Ben says, turning back to the pitcher. 

            He gets into the stance that Coach had showed him, gripping the bat painfully tight.  He’s gonna hit this ball.  He is. 

            The ball comes at him and Ben swings as hard as he can, but the only _thwack_ he hears is the thwack of the bat hitting against the batting helmet on his head. 

            “You’re out,” the referee says, as kindly as possible.

            “Yeah, yeah,” Ben grumbles, walking back to his bench. 

            He studiously avoids looking at his family- even though they sound worried- taking the helmet off and grabbing his mitt before heading to his designated spot in the outfield to pick more grass.

* * *

 

            Ben shyly sidles up to Hal one Saturday afternoon when he’s not doing his homework.  Hal is pretty much always not doing his homework.

            “Can you, uh, show me how to hit a baseball?” Ben asks.  “Please?”  He wants to stop being embarrassing to his team.

            Hal looks at him and then shrugs.  “Yeah, of course.  It’s gonna take a lot of practice, though.”

            Ben swallows hard.  That sounds scary.  “Better get started.”

            They spend hours in the backyard.  Hal pitches to him and Ben tries tries tries to hit it.  Each and every time he fails and he has to run and throw the ball back to Hal to do it again.  Every once in a while, Hal corrects his form.

            “Hey,” Hal jogs up to him.  “You’re so tense.  Try to relax.  Just think about hitting the ball.  Nothing else.  It’s okay for you to miss.  People usually miss.”

            Ben just nods.

            “You can do it, Ben!” It’s Dad’s voice again and when Ben looks to see, Dad and Mom are sitting on the patio watching them.  Oh no. 

            “Hal, stop throwing it so fast,” Mom says.  “It’s coach pitch, not the MLB.”

            “Right, right,” Hal mutters. 

            Mom and Dad watch them practice for hours.

* * *

 

            Ben does his best to remember everything Hal had taught him about how to hold the bat, where to look, where to put his feet- there’s too much to remember in baseball.  He can practically feel everyone sighing in annoyance as he gets up to bat. 

            Swing one, and miss.

            Swing two, and miss.

            “You can do it, Ben!” Hal cheers him on. 

            And, somehow, he does it!  He hits the ball and it goes flying and Ben almost forgets to run for first, but he remembers and makes it.  When he gets to first base, he turns to look at Hal for his reaction.

            Hal is jumping up and down and yelling; a really proud feeling spreads through him.  He did it!  And he made Hal proud! 

            Dad and Mom are clapping and cheering, too, and Ben is so happy that he managed to get on base that he doesn’t even care that the next kid gets the third out so doesn’t get to run again.  At least it hadn’t been him, for once.

            “Didja see me?!” Ben asks, running up to Hal even before he goes to take his batting helmet off.

            “I saw you,” Hal is grinning at him.  “I knew you could do it!  Good job, Ben.”

            Mom squeezes his shoulder and Dad knocks his knuckles gently against his helmet. 

            “Now, go pick more grass,” Mom teases him, leaning down to kiss his cheek before shooing him back towards the bench where everyone else is waiting for him.

            This inning, Ben is more than ready if a ball decides to fly his way (although, it’s probably for the best that none do.  What are you even supposed to do if you catch the ball, anyway?).


End file.
